Obedience

Hi friend, I’m glad you’re here!
First of all, it only seems natural that I explain who I am and why I’m writing this. So let’s get into it!

As you may know, my name is Ella Woodburn, and I’m almost 18 years old. I grew up in a Christian household, so I always knew about God. But it wasn’t until I was around 11 that I truly committed to following Jesus. Gradually, I fell in love with the Lord as I learned that Christianity is more about truly knowing God than simply knowing facts about Him. Here I am, almost seven years later, taking a step of bold faith that would’ve made 11-year-old Ella pee her pants!

I’m participating in World Race’s 9-month program, Gapless Gap Year, which aims to equip college-aged students in missions, ministry, Christ-like leadership, community, and education. We’ll be traveling to Albania and Italy in the first half, and to Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala in the second half—serving as ambassadors of the Good News and sharing the love of Jesus with people from all walks of life. In addition to ministry, we’ll be taking leadership classes and online college courses toward our chosen degree paths. 

You may be asking: Why would I give up all my comfort to travel to unknown places with complete strangers, to live in countries where I don’t know the languages, and often don’t even know what I’ll be doing the next day?

For me, it’s simple. I cannot keep what Jesus did to myself. The Gospel that saves is too important to compartmentalize into my “personal life.” Jesus gave everything for me, so why wouldn’t I give everything to Him?

Now, I’m not saying that “giving everything to God” only happens in the context of international missions. On the contrary, I strongly believe that missions should be part of our everyday lives—no matter what job you have or where you live. Following Jesus means being obedient to go where He tells you to go and to do what He tells you to do, every single day.

That said, I believe this is the season the Lord is calling me into. So here I am! Taking a step away from college with two of my best friends, from the comfort of knowing what tomorrow holds, from helping plan my sister’s wedding, and from the “typical” post high school life plan to step into the unknown with a simple “yes” to the Lord as my guardrail.

Since middle school, I’ve known that global missions would be part of my life in some way. Still, I never imagined I’d be stepping into it right out of high school—until just three months ago. Ironically, that’s also when I began to really wrestle with the idea of global missions. I wondered: What’s the point of it, if it’s His kindness that leads to repentance, the Father who draws the lost to Himself, and the Spirit who guides and teaches the Truth? None of which require human assistance. 

As I dug into questions concerning this, I was reminded of Romans 10:14-15, which says:
“…And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’”

The truth is, God doesn’t need us to spread the Gospel—He’s more than powerful enough to do that Himself. But He has graciously chosen to invite us into His work. And isn’t that the beauty of His design? He doesn’t need us, but He wants us. He doesn’t need me to go, but He’s asked me to—and I want to walk in obedience to Him every day of my life!

I’m more than excited to experience this next season of life, uncertainties and challenges included, because I know who orders my steps, and He wastes nothing! I want to invite you to walk this journey alongside me—whether through prayer, conversation, financial support, or simply following along through my blog posts. I can’t do this without you, and I’m so grateful you’ve taken the time to read about what the Lord is doing in my life.

If you’d like to support me in prayer, here are a few specific requests:

• Provision and protection for the team

• Finances

• Attentiveness to the Lord

• Softened hearts (ours and those we’ll meet)

• Willingness and obedience

If you’d like to support financially, you can give directly to my trip fund (all donations are tax-deductible) at this link:
https://adventuresinmissions.servicereef.com/events/adventures-in-missions-3/august-2025-journey-school-italy-and-albania-25jsfall/participants/ella-woodburnf — Or simply click the “Support” button in the top-right corner of this page to be directed to my giving page.

Lastly, if you’d like to follow along and hear about all God is doing, you can subscribe to my blog—any new post I make will automatically show up in your inbox.

Again, I just want to say thank you! Y’all are the ones standing in my corner through it all, and I’m so deeply grateful.

I appreciate you more than you know!

Ella Woodburn